1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates broadly to integrated electronic circuits, and more specifically to RF transceiver circuitry.
2. Related Art
Wireless communications devices, especially handheld devices, are undergoing sustained development. Perhaps more than any other factor, the extreme popularity of cellular mobile telephones has motivated improvements in efficiency, speed, size and cost-effectiveness for RF transmission circuits in handheld devices. Enhancing the efficiency of such circuits is highly desirable so that the size of the required batteries may be reduced, while their life is extended. Cost-effectiveness is clearly always desirable for consumer products, particularly when such products require periodic replacement to stay abreast of changes in the technology. The steady advance of functionality in cellular telephones, combined with consumer preferences for light and small devices, puts a premium on reducing the volume required for RF transmission circuits. Additionally, transmitters must meet stringent emission limits, which have been established in order to facilitate high communication density at minimal power levels.
Most wireless communication units, such as cellular telephones, comprise at least one RF transceiver. A communication device, such as a cellular telephone, may comprise a multiplicity of RF (radio frequency) front end circuits, which are of primary interest herein. RF front end circuits (or subcircuits) typically include an RF transmit signal amplifier, a Power Amplifier (PA), a matching and filtering section, an antenna switch, and may include a received signal amplifier. A complete transceiver generally also includes a low-noise amplifier for the received signal. Of these circuits, the PA subcircuit is typically the most power-consuming portion of such transmitters, and, also typically, is the source of the most significant unintended or “spurious” emissions. In order to extend battery life, to meet stringent spurious emissions standards, and to minimize the cost of these high-volume consumer items, there is a need to improve the speed and efficiency, while reducing spurious emissions and manufacturing costs, for such PA subcircuits. Due to their need to handle high power, the PA and antenna switch subcircuits consume the most integrated circuit area. Manufacturing costs for integrated circuits are strongly dependent on the amount of device area required for each circuit. Consequently, substantial reductions in the area required for the various RF transceiver subsections will generally lead to commensurate reductions in manufacturing costs for transceiver circuits.
A range of PA topologies have been developed, each having different advantages. For example, PAs of class A, B, C, D, E and F are well known in the art. The primary amplifying devices in PAs of classes A-C are designed to operate in an “active” region of their operating range, thus intentionally conducting current while voltage is present across the device.
PAs of classes D, E and F attempt to reduce the power loss caused by such linear operation by employing amplifier devices as switches that minimize operation in active regions, rather than as linear amplifiers. However, the pulse-type outputs from such amplifiers generally require extensive filtering in order to establish a narrow-band sinusoidal output, as is typically required. While normal operation of PAs in classes D-F does not intentionally cause drive element devices to conduct while voltage is present across the devices, even switched devices consume real power due to current flowing while voltage is present during finite switching periods. Moreover, compared to drive devices in analog PAs operating at the same transmission center frequency, drive devices in class D-F switching circuits must often operate at much higher frequencies. The higher frequency signals include significant energy at undesired frequencies, and such undesired signal energies not only consume circuit power, but also require filtering to meet emission limits.
Integration of devices is generally desirable in order to improve various features of the resulting product, such as operating frequency and reliability, and may also reduce overall manufacturing costs, as well as likely reducing the volume occupied by the circuits. Field Effect Transistors (FETs) are extremely popular for both linear amplification and switching purposes in integrated circuits. However, integrated circuit (IC) FETs have a limited capability to withstand voltage between any two nodes, including gate-source, gate-drain, and drain-source node pairs. Such voltage withstand limitations may particularly impair the usefulness of IC FETs in high power switching circuits, in which inductive voltages may greatly exceed the supply voltage. As a particular example, the transmission output power capability of an RF PA is highly dependent upon the amplitude of the output voltage. One of the difficulties with existing PA technologies is that many otherwise desirably high-speed devices are fabricated using processes that tend to yield FETs having relatively low breakdown voltages. It is very desirable to solve this problem and thereby provide a wider voltage range while retaining other desirable integrated device features. Such a solution enables integration on monolithic integrated circuits of power and control features that previously required separate processing, such as PA features and RF switch features. Integration of interacting circuits that were previously discrete will enhance yield and predictability, due to the process matching that is inherent in monolithic integration.
Methods and circuits are described herein that facilitate the fabrication of all of the transceiver RF circuits of a dual-band transceiver onto a single integrated circuit, thereby solving the problems and gaining the benefits noted above. Many of the benefits are achieved by integrating even the front-end portions of transceivers that do not necessarily include dual-band operation. One or more alternatives are described for each of numerous subcircuits (or corresponding methods), and a fully integrated RF front end, or an integrated RF transceiver, may be fabricated by using any compatible one of such alternatives for each section of the transceiver. Moreover, several of the subcircuits (or corresponding methods) that permit an integrated RF transceiver to be realized are also useful in other contexts, often independently of other RF transceiver subcircuits. Thus, various subcombinations of features described herein constitute useful inventions in their own right. Combined, various aspects of these subcombinations together achieve an integrated dual-band RF transceiver having all of the benefits noted above. Particularly notable among the independently useful subcircuits are stacked-FET RF switches and particular PA circuit topologies. Finally, the integration of certain RF transceiver subsections permits efficiencies in manufacturing without compromising safety and reliability of the final product.